CD30 involvement in self tolerance of T cells

Excerpt

CD30 is a member of the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily, and is expressed on activated T and B cells. Here, the authors investigate the role of CD30 in self-tolerance of autoreactive CD8⁺ T cells. An autoimmune diabetes model system was used where ovalbumin (ova)-specific CD8⁺ T cells from the OT-1 transgenic mouse line were adoptively transferred into unirradiated transgenic mice that expressed ova in the pancreatic beta cells and the proximal tubular cells of the kidney (RIP-mOVA mice). In this model, wild type OT-1 CD8⁺ T cells caused diabetes only when transferred in large numbers, with lower doses being effectively tolerised. Such tolerance is believed to be due to autoantigen from pancreatic cells moving to draining lymph nodes, where it causes activation and subsequent deletion of autoreactive T cells - termed cross-tolerance. This mechanism is dependent on Fas (CD95). The role of CD30 in the maintenance of tolerance was investigated by adoptively transferring CD30-deficient (CD30-/-) OT-1 cells into RIP-mOVA mice, and following the fate of these T cells. …